Changes
by Poppy471
Summary: And these children that you spit on / As they try to change their worlds / Are immune to your consultations / They're quite aware of what they're going through. Life is changing for Brian, faster than he thought possible. T for language.
1. Ch 1: Lunch

**Author's Note: Many thanks to my awesome beta Anjumstar. As well, I would like to thank my muse, Childhood Enigma, for inspiring me.**

_And these children that you spit on_  
><em>As they try to change their worlds<em>  
><em>Are immune to your consultations<em>  
><em>They're quite aware <em>  
><em>of what they're going through<em>

**"Changes"**

**David Bowie**

* * *

><p>"Brian! Don't forget your lunch!"<p>

This is it- the Monday after the breakfast club.

Sunday had been a nightmare, his mother confining him to his room and forbidding all activities but studying. Claire's compassion buoys him up. She's a princess among the rich girls and she had cared about his intentions with the flare gun. If he matters to her, if he has the innate worth she seemed confident of, he is better than the lamp and the flare gun solution. He has determined that if he doesn't like who he is, he's in charge of that and will do something about it. Instead of studying, he had spent Sunday thinking about that.

His first resolution for the new life he wants to build is to be braver. If Claire doesn't approach him, he will seek her out. The same with Allison and Andy. He's not quite up to pursuing someone as scary as Bender, but he refuses to be shy with the others. If they reject him, it's their loss. He still has inherent value.

"Stop twisting your hat like that," his mother chides him as they stop at a red light. He flattens the hat out nervously, then decides this hat belongs to the past. He'll get a new one, one he chooses, not this ugly orange and blue University of Illinois hat. He tucks it into his backpack, then notices he's obsessively zipping and unzipping the bag. He tries putting his hands in his jacket pockets, then starts fiddling with the fringe of his scarf. Nerves? Worse than before the Latin quiz bowl.

He tries to think where he would find Claire. Where do the rich girls hang out? By one of their lockers; he remembers seeing them grouped together around Priscilla at her locker. Priscilla Rogers, now there's someone scary, much worse than Bender. Bender would only give him a wedgie; Priscilla might humiliate him in front of a gaggle of beautiful girls. She's known for her scathing contempt of all who do not conform to her standards.

The façade of the high school building looms. Here goes nothing.

Claire seems to have been waiting for him, just inside the front door. Her smile lights up his heart. She's smiling, she's waving, she's happy to see him, Brian Johnson.

"Hey, Claire…" What else should he say? "Umm…"

"Have you seen the others?" She's wringing her leather gloves. Is it possible Claire Standish might be as nervous as he is? "Have you seen John?"

Ah.

"No, I just got here. He hangs out in the parking lot usually, in the back corner."

"Oh." She looks crestfallen.

"I'll walk out there with you, if you want."

She seems to be debating, eyes cast down, her expensive gloves totally mangled by now. Just as he sees resolve cross her face, he stumbles forward, pushed hard by Bender's heavy back slap.

"Dork, Cherry, what's up?"

Claire's smile is slow and sensual now, none of the bright friendliness she had for him a moment ago. Bender gathers them up with an arm around each of them and sweeps them into the school.

"C'mon, Sporto says he's meeting Allison in the courtyard. We better hurry, Johnson here doesn't want to be late for homeroom."

Somehow, he's no longer being urged forward by Bender but being pulled along in his slip stream, tagging after the couple. To be perfectly honest, that's okay with him, he's glad to not have a wedgie. Or a noogie. Or any sort of bruises at all.

Everything about Bender is bigger than life and he makes a path for them through the student body. He sees Claire's head turn as she is sped along, then passes Priscilla himself. Priscilla looks entirely blank, as if her face had been wiped clean of all expression except pure surprise. More heads turn as they plunge along; obviously Bender is getting the reaction he wants by publicly parading Claire through the school. They burst out into the courtyard to find Allison and Andy tucked away in a corner standing so close they might have been kissing.

"Alright, break it up you two," Bender calls out.

The pair jump apart guiltily. When Andy turns, he grabs Brian by the scruff of the neck and shakes him a little, the way jocks do when they want to hug but are too manly to do so. Allison gives him a shy smile. Everyone in the group kept their promises.

Bender slaps his gloved hands together and rubs them, as if getting down to serious work.

"Now, who's getting high? Who's skipping homeroom? Where do we want to eat lunch?"

"Bender, you're the only one who's getting high and we all need to go to homeroom," Andy says. "I'd say we should eat lunch in the cafeteria, as that is where lunch is served."

This brings up a question Brian hadn't considered. He wants to be with his new friends, but he doesn't want to ditch his old friends, Lester, Rob and Gil.

"Well, guys, I think I'm going to sit with Lester. I don't want him to think I've abandoned him just because I made some new friends."

"I should probably sit with Priscilla, I promised her I would help her with social studies," is Claire's answer.

Allison and Andy glance at each other. Had they already discussed this problem?

"Claire, you're hanging with me," Bender says as if she hadn't said anything. "We can go out to the parking lot. You guys should join us."

"Allison is sitting with me," Andy announces.

"They won't like it Andy. I can sit with Brian. His friends will accept me." Allison seems sure of herself.

Andy bites his lower lip. To Brian, it seems Allison has it right. He can't see the jocks wanting Allison at their table, but Lester and the guys would definitely think having a girl to sit with would be cool.

"In fact, I think we should all sit with Brian's friends. Claire, your friends won't like you being with John, and John… your friends won't leave Claire alone."

Bender looks thoughtful, but Andy has a very set expression, as if he is determined to carry some point.

The homeroom bell rings.

"Brian and I will be at his table. You guys can do what you want, but I think you should sit with us."

Allison turns away and walks to the door, but in such a dreamy way, it seems she gets there by accident. Andy is left with his mouth open, about to say something. Brian follows Allison's example, leaving the other members of the breakfast club pondering.

* * *

><p>Brian is a freshman so he has no classes with the others. His morning passes in a happy blur, until he broaches the subject of Allison. He tells Lester they're going to have a girl sitting with them. Gil overhears and whispers to Rob. They all look happy with the idea and Rob gives him a thumbs up.<p>

"No, she's Andrew Clark's girlfriend, not mine."

Rob and Gil look disappointed, but Lester turns red with anger.

"How can you have anything to do with him?" Lester demands.

"His girlfriend didn't hurt you, did she? She's a nice girl. Besides, Andy is sorry he did that."

"Since when do you know what 'Andy' feels? When did you guys get that close?" Lester's scorn and fury are clear.

"Look, I can't tell it all to you now, but we had detention together. Andy is very sorry, okay? He'll tell you himself."

This breakfast club idea, so easy in detention, is a lot harder in practice.

* * *

><p>Brian knows where to find Andy as their lockers are on the same hall. He tracks him down and corners him before he can leave for lunch.<p>

"I told Lester you'd apologize. He doesn't want Allison sitting with us."

"Alright man. I'll do that. He deserves an apology." Andy looks uncomfortable but resolute. "He deserves more, but what else can I give him?"

"An apology is a good place to start."

* * *

><p>Lester says, "No, I won't take your apology. You think words will change anything? What you did can't be fixed by 'I'm sorry.' You're a complete bastard and I don't trust you."<p>

"I deserve that." Andy's head is down. "You're right. What I did went way beyond shitty."

Brian sees Lester isn't mollified.

"I'm sorry I did it. I wish I could make it not have happened. But I can't. I'd do anything to make it up to you." Andy looks up with tears in his eyes.

Brian has been watching them like a game of ping-pong. He's afraid Lester won't accept Andy's apology at all. But suddenly Lester is looking embarrassed, embarrassed by Andy's tears.

"Okay, I forgive you." He says it clearly. "Your girlfriend is welcome to sit with us."

Allison, who has been standing nearby, approaches looking uncertain. Andy gives her a kiss on the cheek and moves off to the jock table. Rob gestures toward the chair next to him. He's always considered himself a ladies' man. She gives him a smile and sits. Brian sits across from her, with Gil at his side. Gil immediately knocks over his milk.

None of them know what to say, but Allison seems unperturbed as she unpacks her lunch. When the pixie stix appear, Brian relaxes. She's so odd, the guys won't be able to stay shy. Her sandwich is on mismatched pieces of bread, one whole wheat, one white. She peels off the slice of olive loaf (which looks revolting) and begins her pixie stix routine.

The guys watch with interest. At the cereal crushing stage, Gil asks "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Allison blurts defensively.

"It makes the sandwich stick together," Brian answers, as if this would be obvious and kicks Gil under the table.

"Is that Cap'n Crunch?" Rob asks, evidently trying to make polite conversation.

Just then Andy bangs his Happy Foods lunch bag down next to Allison. He looks even more pissed than he did when Vernon chastised him unfairly about the magazine rack.

"Ally, you're right, those boneheads still think it's funny." He looks at Lester. "I'm sorry man. I tried. Assholes. If they bother you, let me know." He seats himself forcefully and begins digging through the bag with unnecessary energy.

"Look at Claire," Allison says. They all follow her gaze across the cafeteria. Bender is standing at the richie-princess table, looming over the girls as Claire gets to her feet. Brian can see Priscilla's face contorted in a sneer, obviously saying something cutting to Claire. Bender takes Claire's elbow, but she wrenches out of his grasp and races toward the girls' bathroom.

"I'd better go see," Allison says and abandons her sandwich. Rob pinches up a piece of cereal and tastes it.

Everyone else continues watching Bender, who is still leaning over the princess table. Priscilla's sneer turns into shock as they look on. Bender turns with a swirl of his overcoat and makes his way to the geek table, a superior smile on his face.

"I don't normally kiss and tell," he announces as he turns a chair backwards and straddles it. "But sometimes you have to give way to greater need. Priscilla needed to come down a peg or two. Mentioning what she did last semester behind the gym shut her up."

"What did she do?" Rob wants to know.

"Brian's ears are too virginal for me to tell you. But…" Bender leans over and whispers in Rob's ear. Robs eyes threaten to pop out.

Andy looks over at the princess table darkly. "Bender, that wasn't such a smart thing to do. You don't know Priscilla. I've never known her to take anything lying down."

Bender gives his sarcastic laugh and says, "That's what I thought too, but it turns out she does take some things lying down." His lewd look gives his words their crude meaning.

"I'm not kidding man; she's mean as a snake."

"What can she do? I don't give a shit what she and her friends think."

"You've been warned."

Allison eventually returns, sans Claire. Brian is not alone in his concern to hear what happened to Claire.

"She went to the chemistry classroom to collect herself," she informs the table and returns to crushing her cereal.

* * *

><p>What Allison didn't mention was Claire's anger with Bender. She was initially pissed because Bender tried to tell her where to spend her lunch, but then she heard about Bender's and Priscilla's activities behind the gym. (The whole school knows about that now.)<p>

Brian is witness to this argument because after school she enlists his aid in approaching the heavy metal guys in the back parking lot. They set off for the lot but are intercepted by Bender himself at the rear doors, and Claire doesn't waste time in reading him the riot act.

This is uncomfortable to say the least. He tries to slip away, but Claire detains him by the arm.

"I want witnesses that I didn't do something totally disgusting with this- this libertine!"

There is much shouting on Claire's part and quick thinking and smooth talking on Bender's part. Eventually Bender works his arm around her shoulders and gets her to walk off with him, leaving Brian behind. They seem to forget about him and he is left standing there feeling a bit used. But then he recollects that Claire appealed to him to protect her honor and pride creeps in, pushing the other feelings aside.


	2. Ch 2: Junior Classical League

**Chapter Two**

**Junior Classical League**

Brian watches as Bender kisses Claire's neck and whispers something in her ear that makes her blush. Brian can protect her honor, but she'll never look that way at him. He sighs and turns away, to see Rob also watching the couple in a much more obvious way. Rob is in awe of Bender's abilities with the ladies and every time Bender kisses Claire, Brian can see Rob making mental notes and melting with envy. That's better than his own furtive jealousy. Brian's a freshman and she's a junior, she's rich and he's not, she's beautiful and he's insignificant, she's perfect and he's nothing. And Bender is Bender.

Not that Claire isn't nice to him. Under all that rich girl stuff she's a naturally sweet person, warm, gentle and caring. When she thinks of him, she's kind, but she doesn't think of him much. He resumes eating his burger, but his eyes follow her as she buses her tray and heads to the girls' room.

Bender enjoys Rob's hero worship and is now giving him pointers on making it with girls.

"Girls are just like guys, they want what they want, but see, girls think they shouldn't want it. What you need to do is-"

"What you need to do," Andy interrupts, "is shut it, Bender. Don't listen to him, Rob. What you need to do is treat women with respect. Bender, if you keep this up, Claire will hear about your advice column. I don't think you want her to know what you're telling Rob."

Bender subsides with a smirk, unrepentant, just as Claire returns.

Allison looks in Brian's direction from under her shaggy hair. She understands people in a unique way and he knows she's aware of his unrequited affection. Her sympathy warms him; she knows what being on the outside is like.

Mulling this over, he is surprised when he hears an unfamiliar voice say, "Brian Johnson? From the Junior Classical League?"

He looks up to see a girl with black hair and green eyes. She's dressed even more strangely than Allison, in black men's trousers, a tattered black sweater and at least six silver earrings.

"It is you! I saw your dramatic reading at the last convention. I was going to Brookline High and you guys creamed us."

He feels a blush rising.

"I only placed second. You're Beatrice, right?"

"Yep, that's me. I was so excited when I heard I would be transferring here and I could join your team. The next meeting is Thursday?"

"At 3:30, yeah, up in Mr. Tillson's classroom."

"I'll see you there!"

The whole table is silently looking at him.

"Latin Club," he explains. "She knows me from Latin Club."

"She's got enough junk in her ears to set off a metal detector in an airport," says Bender.

"You're famous, Brian?" Claire asks.

Allison doesn't say anything but he senses a happy glow from her direction.

Andy bursts out, "She looks weirder than Allison!" He quickly looks at Allison and says, "Sorry. You always look great, but you know what I mean."

The guys, Rob, Gil and Lester have been looking on enviously.

"I was supposed to do that reading," mutters Rob.

"But Mr. Tillson chose Brian because he was better," Gil retorts. "Way to go, Brian. I remember Beatrice; she rocked in the certamen event."

"I'm glad she's on our side now. We'll do even better at next year's convention," Lester says excitedly.

* * *

><p>Brian sees Beatrice much sooner than he expected. The next day when he plunks his bag lunch down at his usual spot at the lunch table, he notices a female huddle going on at the other end of the table; Allison and Claire are ministering to Beatrice, who looks upset.<p>

Andy leans over and says, "Claire found her in the bathroom. Someone was being shitty to her. You know, girls are much worse than guys. Guys just hurt you and then leave you alone; girls keep at you until you go crazy."

"Priscilla is a BITCH." Brian and Andy are both surprised at this loud, profane outburst from Claire. Allison pulls out the chair between herself and Brian and gestures Beatrice into it. Rob usually sits there, but Beatrice's need seems greater.

Knowing what it is like to be on the receiving end of bullying, Brian gives her an encouraging smile. She wipes her nose and tries to smile back.

"It's stupid to let someone like her get to me. I don't even know her."

"Claire's right, she's the biggest bitch in school. Don't mind her."

Bender descends with his usual flourish, seeming to take up more room than other people as he arrays himself and his overcoat, and then the three guys arrive, making a hubbub that draws attention away from Beatrice.

The guys are laughing over something Gil is saying.

"Tell us again, Gil!" Rob encourages.

Gil can barely get it out, choking on his own laughter. "Semper ubi sub ubi ubique."

Brian has heard this one before and rolls his eyes and in so doing he catches Beatrice's eye. They share a tolerant smile.

"Oldest one in the book," she observes.

"Oldest what?" Allison asks.

"Oldest Latin joke… ubi means 'where,' so it's a pun that means 'Always wear underwear everywhere.' Sure to get a laugh from the under fifteen male populace."

Having turned fifteen just a few weeks ago, Brian feels relieved he hadn't laughed.

"Yeah, that's not really funny is it?" Allison is remarkably honest for a compulsive liar.

"The first couple of times I heard it when I was thirteen, it was funny. It's been a while since I've found it amusing," Beatrice says.

"You started Latin when you were thirteen?" Brian asks.

Beatrice answers, "No, my dad started me when I was ten, but I didn't get to study it in school until I was thirteen."

Beatrice becomes more impressive by the minute. Her prowess at the Latin quiz bowl is now explained.

"I'm glad you're with us now," Brian tells her.

"It'll be exciting working with you guys. His dramatic reading," Beatrice turns to Allison, "was phenomenal, right down to the syllable."

"I only came in second." Brian feels a blush burning his cheeks.

"Yeah, second to Bart Newfield, who was sixteen at the time."

Distracted by such flattering attention, it takes a while for him to notice Allison flipping through a wallet not her own.

"Umm, Allison, you need to give that back."

"You stole my wallet?" Beatrice sounds more impressed than angry.

"You've been to see Bauhaus?" Allison is holding up a laminated ticket stub.

"I'll tell you about Bauhaus if you teach me how to pick pockets."

Wow, a friend for Allison? She must be very strange indeed.

* * *

><p>Beatrice continues to dominate Brian's day. After the last class, he makes his way to the Willow Street exit to walk home and bumps into her on the way out.<p>

"You headed this way?" he asks. "I live in West Shermer."

"Yeah, me too."

He's never asked a girl to do anything with him, but his new lease on life after the breakfast club urges him to say, "Wanna walk together?"

His heart beats hard until she says, "Sure, let's go."

He is afraid they might walk in silence until he recollects their mutual interest in Latin and starts the happy topic of Roman mythology. This carries them right up to Milton Avenue, where they part ways. When he says goodbye, Brian notices how green her eyes are and his stomach does a little flip-flop. This feels very different from the tug at his heart when he looks at Claire. And there is no Bender over shadowing him. She's impressed with his dramatic reading, she remembered his name months after the convention, she seems to like talking to him. He warms himself with these facts as with a tiny flame.

* * *

><p>By Allison's invitation, Beatrice returns to the breakfast club lunch table the day after. Again, she takes Rob's seat, between Allison and Brian. Brian is afraid Rob might feel hurt by his displacement, but Rob gives him a little thumbs up and waggles his eyebrows. He hopes to engage her in conversation but to his surprise, Allison dominates that end of the table, interrogating Beatrice about the Bauhaus concert she saw in October.<p>

"I've held up my end of the bargain; you know all about the Bauhaus concert," Beatrice says. "Let's see how you do your light-fingered tricks."

"Get up Beatrice. Brian, take her seat." Allison rearranges them, then gives Beatrice instructions behind Brian's back, repeatedly removing his wallet from his back pocket. He didn't volunteer for this, but it is thrilling to have Beatrice leaning in so close to him he can feel her breath on his back.

"I'm glad I keep mine on a chain, Johnson. No practicing on me," Bender observes.

Allison peeks around Brian to say, "We can practice on Claire's purse next."

* * *

><p>That afternoon, as Brian heads toward the Willow Street exit, he sees Beatrice loitering, as if she were waiting for him. Her smile, when she turns and sees him, makes his stomach do the flip-flop thing again.<p>

"Hi, Brian. You heading home?"

"Yeah, you too?"

"I've got to stop at Benson's. My mom asked me to get some milk on the way home."

Brian holds the door for her and they turn towards West Shermer.

Fearful of an awkward silence, he asks, "How do you like Shermer so far, Beatrice?"

"Except for that Priscilla girl, I like it fine. Your friend Allison is really cool. How do you know all those upperclassmen?"

"We all had detention together one Saturday. We just kind of stuck together after that. I mean, those guys started dating and I sorta… I guess I'm the host. They all came to sit at my table at lunch because my friends-"

"Your friends aren't stuck up. I always sat at the Latin Club table at Brookline. I'm glad Claire found me when Priscilla was going after me. If she had gone on much longer, I would have decked her, then I'd be in trouble for fighting again."

"Again?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm not at Brookline any more. Fighting. Beat the shit out of a guy who thought taking my Walkman would be funny. My music is everything; I couldn't let him take it, especially as it had a bootleg of a Cure concert. My parents took the Walkman away as punishment, but the bootleg is safe."

"A bootleg recording is worth physical violence?"

"Of course it is. It's irreplaceable. Anyway, he'd been asking for trouble for a while. Dick."

Once again fearing silence, Brian starts, "Andy used to be a dick. But he changed. Because of the breakfast club. Lester? Andy taped Lester's buns together in the locker room one day after P.E. But he said he was sorry and I think he really meant it because he cried. But maybe that was just the marijuana?." He stops suddenly, realizing he's babbling and perhaps shouldn't have mentioned drugs and definitely shouldn't have mentioned Andy crying.

"You smoke marijuana?"

"Just once, during detention." He's glad the drug reference has distracted her from Andy crying.

"What was it like?"

"It made me laugh a lot and do stupid things. Bender knocked me over…" This isn't sounding too interesting. "Andy went crazy and broke a window, then started doing gymnastics all over the place."

"You guys don't seem like delinquents, but you did all this stuff in detention. What were you in detention for anyway?"

"I had a flare gun in my locker that went off."

"A flare gun? That is totally random. Why did you have one in your locker?"

He wants to avoid this topic. "That's a long story. Allison is the only one who didn't do anything bad to get in detention. She came because she didn't have anything else to do. She used to not have friends, but I don't know why, she's very nice, and when she talks she's funny. You should have heard this big lie she told about being a nymphomaniac." Damn, maybe mentioning Allison's lying is not so great either. He's babbling again, but he doesn't know how to stop. "Bender was a dick too, before detention."

"Bender still is a dick," Beatrice interjects.

"Yeah, but he used to be worse. He's nice to me now. Or at least, he doesn't try to scare me anymore."

They've reached Milton Avenue and Benson's Grocery.

"I guess I need to get milk now. I'll see you tomorrow?"

Those green eyes latch onto his.

"Umm, yeah, tomorrow." He nervously zips his jacket up and down.

"Bye." She turns toward the automatic door into the grocery store and is gone.


	3. Ch 3: New Clothes and The Cure

**Chapter Three**

**New Clothes and The Cure**

Thursday morning, Brian manages to catch Claire in the courtyard before homeroom.

"Claire, could I ask a favor?"

"Sure, Brian." She gives him that clear, sweet look that grabs his heart every time. He wishes it wouldn't. His stomach is flip-flopping for Beatrice, why is his heart still being tugged by Claire? Dammit, focus.

"I need some new clothes but I don't know what to get." He's been saving his allowance for years now, to go towards college expenses, but fuck it, he dresses like a kid and he's grown up now, in high school. He needs to wear something other than what his mother picks out.

"You need to go shopping?" She looks excited. Shopping is what Claire does best.

"I guess so. I just got tired of wearing…" He pulls at the hem of his green sweat shirt.

"That's great. I'd love to take you shopping. When do you want to go?"

"I've got Latin club today, but maybe tomorrow?"

They make plans to meet up after school the next day.

"Claire?"

"Yes?"

"Don't tell anyone. Okay?"

A look of comprehension comes over her. She nods.

* * *

><p>Latin club is far more lively with Beatrice there. She impresses Mr. Tillson with her knowledge of irregular verbs and mythology. Brian can see the wheels in his mind turning, deciding how best to use her skills at the next convention. She spurs the others on to do their best as well. Edina and Janice, the junior girls, seem happy to have another girl in the club after being the only ones for three years.<p>

After the meeting, Brian and Beatrice walk out together and head toward the Willow Street exit without a pause in their conversation about Ovid's _Amores_, of which he has only read small excerpts. They turn west and reach Milton Avenue more quickly than seems right.

When Beatrice says, "See you tomorrow," he feels a surge of happiness.

Having so much happiness now makes his home life come into focus. His mother is a hard driving woman without mercy. Claire cares more about him than his mother seems to. His mother's only focus is grades, academics and getting into a good college. But why? It is the first time he's thought about that. What's wrong with going to the state university? He doesn't want to be a doctor or a lawyer. In fact, he doesn't know what he wants to be. But the idea of graduating from high school only to be under even more pressure suddenly seems undesirable. He's confronted with a teetering mountain of unending pressure and wonders if that's what he wants. High school to college, college to graduate work, graduate work to some high power profession, to what end? So that he can live his life to please his mother? What about Brian? When does he get to please himself?

He is greeted by his little sister squealing because he is home later than usual. He must have been walking slowly with his head full of these heretical thoughts.

"I'm gonna tell mom!" She's delighted with something to tattle about.

"You go right ahead and do that Samantha. I'll take all the heads off your Barbies."

"I'll tell mom if you do that."

"You can tell mom all you want, that won't get their heads back. You know how expensive they are and you won't get new ones. I might be punished, but you'll still have nothing but headless Barbies."

She looks uncertain.

"You do what you want, Sam. You don't want your Barbies to have heads, that's fine with me."

"Okay, I won't say you were late."

"You won't say anything about anything, if you know what's good for you." Why hadn't he thought of this before?

He decides to be up front about the new clothes. He can't hide new clothes, so he'll have to explain himself anyway.

His father is doling out chicken pieces at dinner when he brings it up.

"I'm going shopping with a friend tomorrow." He doesn't ask; it's a statement.

"No, you're not, young man. You're going to come straight home to work on your physics project," his mother says, reaching for the pepper.

"Mom, I have all weekend to work on it. Shopping for a couple of hours will make no difference."

"You'll do as you're told." She slams the pepper shaker down.

"Mom, be reasonable. I'll still have over 48 hours in the entire weekend to do nothing but work on my physics project, which is almost done as it is."

"What are you shopping for anyway?"

"Clothes."

"What's wrong with the clothes you have now?"

"You picked them out. I don't want to be dressed by my mother anymore." He pushes his plate away.

He's surprised when his father interjects, "Helen, let him buy some clothes. He's old enough to make his own decisions." His father fixes him with a stern look. "You'll be paying for this on your own and I hope you'll use your money wisely."

* * *

><p>"Claire, I think we should go to JC Penny, not Bloomingdale's."<p>

"I always shop at Bloomingdale's, what's wrong with it?" Claire asks over her shoulder as she leads the way into the mall.

"I have $110 to spend, that would get me two pairs of pants at Bloomingdale's."

She looks shocked at this idea.

"I'm sorry, Brian, I forgot…" She blushes.

"You forgot you're rich and I'm not. That's okay. But we need to be realistic."

So they set off for Penny's. He emerges with two big bags, stuffed with two pairs of pants, four shirts, a new belt and some socks. He might look like Claire dressed him now, but that is better than looking like his mother dressed him.

* * *

><p>At lunch on Monday, Beatrice bounces over, holding up a Walkman triumphantly.<p>

"My parents gave it back!"

She settles between Brian and Allison and hands it to Allison.

"You can listen to it now! The Cure concert!"

Allison, almost as excited as Beatrice, takes the Walkman and puts it on.

"I wish I had a dual cassette player so I could copy it for her," Beatrice says, then whispers to Brian, "I wouldn't let anyone borrow it, not for my life, not even Allison."

Brian is so incredulous at his good fortune it takes him a minute to speak. "My dad has a dual cassette player. You could copy it at my house."

How he would arrange this, he doesn't know. He doubts his mother would like the way Allison and Beatrice dress. Between Beatrice's earrings and Allison's shaggy hair and black eyeliner, he doesn't see her being too pleased to see them. Actually, he thinks his mother wouldn't like him having any friends over at all, not even nice clean-cut people like Andy and Claire. She regards him as a homework machine and time not spent studying is time wasted in her opinion. The more time he spends at the breakfast club lunch table, the more he realizes how unreasonable his mother is and the more he realizes how she makes him miserable.

But Tuesdays are Sam's Brownie meetings. They don't get home until five.

"You guys could come over after school tomorrow, if you want."

Beatrice energetically pokes Allison to get her to remove the headphones.

"Brian can copy it for us!"

Allison's eyes are bright with pleasure.

"Bring a blank tape and we can do it tomorrow," Beatrice says.

Allison's face falls. "I can't tomorrow. Andy has a meet."

"Well, bring a blank tape anyway and me and Brian can do it ourselves."

* * *

><p>Tuesday, Brian carefully dresses in some of his new clothes, a pair of loose, bleached jeans and a simple white shirt. Claire's fashion sense is unerring and she picked out the right style and cut to look great without drawing attention to himself. He spends a little time playing with the collar and wondering what he would look like with a pierced ear. Finally he lets the collar lie flat and decides he'd look pretty stupid with an earring.<p>

His morning classes pass in a happy blur. He doesn't even take notes in history, he's too distracted. He can get them later from Lester or Gil. During lunch, he nervously toys with his cafeteria mac and cheese. (He's stopped bringing lunch from home, feeling the full weight of Bender's mockery of his lunch in detention.) Beatrice and Allison are trying to explain who Béla Lugosi is to Andy. Beatrice gives Brian her Walkman and he absentmindedly puts it on, but all he hears is static and some weird kind of clicking, so he returns it to her.

Finally the last bell rings and Brian meets Beatrice by the Willow Street exit. She looks as happy as he feels, positively glowing.

"I think your Walkman is broken, Beatrice."

"No, I was just listening to it. It's fine."

"When you let me listen to it, it was all static and weird sounds."

"It's supposed to sound like that, that's 'Béla Lugosi's Dead' by Bauhaus." She laughs. "You'll like The Cure better."

"Between you and me, Beatrice, I mainly listen to classical music."

"Oh, I love Wagner. And everybody likes Beethoven. Even if they don't realize it, they do."

"Yeah, if Bender knows the Fifth, everyone does."

"Well, I won't torture you with Bauhaus. We'll copy this Cure concert and then listen to whatever you want. It's really nice of you to do this."

When they arrive at his family's modest ranch house, he feels like a trespasser in his own home. It is silent and he has a weird feeling they should whisper, in case his mother, miles away at the Brownie meeting, might hear them.

He tosses his backpack on the couch and turns on the stereo.

"You want something to drink? I think we've got some Pepsi."

Beatrice is already flopped on the mustard yellow shag carpeting in front of the stereo, fiddling with settings.

"Sure."

As he opens the fridge, he hears a crowd cheering, then slow single guitar notes floating on eerie synthesizer humming. He pops open the cans of Pepsi and the music picks up a bit with a drumbeat and lyrics, although the singer sounds like he's about to cry. This is better than 'Béla Lugosi's Dead,' but still really weird. When he returns to the living room, Beatrice is lying on her back, arms spread, obviously enjoying the music. He settles on the floor too, arms hooked around his knees. The music spins back into the ethereal synthesizer sounds.

"This is their Japan tour. I saw them in Chicago this winter. It was amazing." Now the singer is wailing like a tortured soul. In her current position, her loose black t-shirt full of holes hugs her curves, and he sees a strip of skin between her waistband and the tank top under her shirt. The dreamy atmospheric sounds and agonized lyrics are making him feel a bit odd.

"C'mon, Brian, loosen up. Take off your shoes, lie back." Her Converse shoes are kicked off and lying beneath the coffee table. He follows her instructions and stretches out on his side next to her. When she rolls toward him onto her side, they are only inches apart. Her green eyes look huge so close and he can see flecks of black and amber. He begins to say something and instead finds himself kissing her. The music and her taste and the feel of her cool skin blend into a tapestry of sensation, overwhelming him. After an unmeasured time, the loud click of the tape ending startles them apart.

Brian lays his hand on his chest, trying to contain the bounding of his heart. That is how his mother finds them, Beatrice flipping the tape and him trying to catch his breath.

He leaps to his feet and starts, "Mom-" He doesn't know what he might say, but he doesn't get a chance.

"Brian Jerome Johnson, what are you doing?"

Beatrice is on her feet now too, looking very collected, holding out her hand.

"Mom, this is Beatrice. From the Latin Club."

His mother is forced to shake her hand, albeit reluctantly. Beatrice gives her a confident smile and says, "It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Johnson. Brian was just helping me memorize some Ovid."

Wow, she's a quick thinker. He can see his mother revising her intended diatribe.

"Intret amicitiae nomine tectus amor," she recites. "It's for next year's convention. Your son is a master of dramatic recitation." She looks at Brian with laughter in her eyes. "Did I get it right this time?"

"Um, yeah, that's it."

His mother is regarding them through narrowed eyes, but she can find nothing wrong except Beatrice's clothing being outrageous.

Beatrice rattles the two tapes and says, "These will help me a lot. Thank you, Brian."

* * *

><p>The next morning Brian finds Beatrice waiting for him at his locker.<p>

She asks, "Did you get in much trouble?" before he can say anything.

"No. She couldn't really say anything, we were working on Latin, not wasting time."

"But she doesn't like me?"

He tries to think of a polite way to say yes.

"She doesn't like my clothes, does she?"

"I think so, yeah. She didn't forbid me seeing you though. As long as we're studying. That's all I am ever permitted to do, everything else is wrong." He gives her a sidelong look. "I looked up that quote. 'Let love steal in disguised as friendship.' Are you trying to tell me something?"

"It happens." She pulls him in for a hug. Her hair smells delicious and her shirt is soft against his fingers.

He opens his eyes to see Allison over Beatrice's shoulder, patiently waiting. The hot blush creeping up his neck makes his embarrassment even worse, but Allison acts as though Brian hugging Beatrice is perfectly normal.

"Hey Allison."

Beatrice turns and looks very disappointed. "I only got one side copied. Here." She hands Allison a tape. "I'll make a full copy later. If that's okay, Brian?"

"Next Tuesday." His smile spreads. "You can make all the copies you want on Tuesdays."


	4. Ch 4: Queen Bitch & the Mashed Potatoes

**Chapter Four**

**Queen Bitch and the Mashed Potatoes**

Bender is looking uncharacteristically sober at lunch. Allison, Claire and Beatrice are absorbed in some kind of girl thing, so Brian is free to follow Bender's conversation with Andy.

"You're right Sporto, Priscilla isn't taking it lying down."

Andy's head snaps up. "What do you mean?"

"Carl tipped me off. All of our lockers are going to be searched. Not just mine, all of us. I had to flush my doobage." Louder, he says, "Al, you got any contraband on you?"

"Yeah, I have my knife. Why?"

"Ditch it. We're all going to be searched. Bea, Claire, Dork, any of you got anything?" Brian, Claire and Beatrice shake their heads.

"Midgets, you got something illegal, dump it," he tells Gil, Rob and Lester. "I think we better keep our noses very clean next couple of days."

* * *

><p>Carl's information is accurate. Each of them is called out of class separately by Vernon that afternoon and made to witness their locker being searched. Brian's search is fairly cursory, but he sees Bender still shoveling his belongings back into his locker as he goes back to class.<p>

"Why did Priscilla wait so long to start this?" Brian asks the table in general the next day.

"Oh, she's been trying to hurt me ever since we all started eating lunch together," Claire says.

"How?"

"Spreading rumors, trying to turn the other girls against me, being catty and insulting me in front of people. You know, standard Priscilla stuff. But I don't care anymore, so it isn't giving her the revenge she wants."

"She's been a bitch to me and Beatrice too, but we don't care either," Allison explains.

"You guys have been underestimating Priscilla this whole time. I know her. We dated in freshman year," Andy warns.

"You did?" Claire looks revolted.

"Yeah, well, my nads were in overdrive. That's beside the point. She's dangerous when she doesn't get her way. I've seen her tear down so many girls."

"But we don't care anymore, Andy. She doesn't bother us," Claire says.

"That just makes it worse. She's out to get us all now." Andy is looking serious as hell.

Claire asks, "But why?"

"Because we are beyond her reach, we are independent of her. She has no control over us," Allison says slowly. "She's used to everyone being scared of her and we're not."

"Exactly," says Andy.

"What are we going to do?" Claire asks, looking around.

"I am the one person she's worried about," Bender says. "I didn't tell all, about last semester. There's more I could say. I'll be the spokesperson; she'll listen to me. Now we have to figure out what our message will be."

"Blackmail?" Andy suggests.

"Yeah, that's where we should start. But we have to have a backup plan ready. I doubt she'll fold that easily. I'll catch her this afternoon, with our message."

* * *

><p>Bender reports back at lunch the next day.<p>

"It's official. It's war. She says no one will believe me, I can say whatever I like, it doesn't matter."

"What can we do?" Claire asks.

They look at each other.

Allison finally says, "There isn't much we can do but be very good students. No knives, no doobage, no skipping class."

"No doobage?" Bender is aghast.

"No doobage," Andy says firmly. "We have to stay clean."

"I think maybe-" Claire starts.

Everyone looks expectantly at her.

"Maybe I can recruit a spy. Priscilla's hurt a lot of people, and some girls are tired of doing everything she says."

"Excellent!"

"Good idea!"

"Way to go, Claire!"

Claire looks uncertain. "I don't know though, they are scared. They see what she's done to me. I have you guys to be with… these girls will have no one, will be entirely on their own."

"It's awful, being all on your own with no one," Allison says.

"But it's worth a try, I say. Good luck Claire," Andy responds.

There are murmurs of appreciation.

"Until we get this sorted out, everyone needs to be on their best behavior." Andy looks pointedly at Bender.

Bender puts up his gloved hands and says, "Okay, okay, I get it. I'll be cool."

* * *

><p>Being on his best behavior at school isn't too hard for Brian as he is always on his best behavior anyway. Major rebellion is fomenting inside him against his mother, though. The idea of resisting the pressure to perform, hatched last week, has been growing.<p>

He can't not do homework; that is beyond his ability to conceive. But he thinks about all the clubs he belongs to. He genuinely likes Latin, but math and physics are there to look good on college applications. He used to get something out of the social interaction the clubs provided, but now he has the breakfast club. And he finds it hard to believe, but he has a girlfriend. He wants to spend time with Beatrice, but his mother certainly would not allow dates, which would be frivolous and not something he could put on a college application. Nor would she allow simply hanging out. Allison spends most afternoons at Andy's house, and Bender and Claire usually join them or hang at Claire's.

He thinks things over. Thursdays he has Latin club, which is fine. Every other Wednesday he has physics club, every other Wednesday he has math club. Tuesdays his mother is with Sam at her Brownie meeting. If he skips his meetings, he can spend time with Beatrice and the others. He can get out of the house on weekends under the pretext of going to the library. He might actually be able to have a normal social life despite his mother's determination that he sacrifice all for academics.

The day after Bender's report finds Brian anxious and on edge. Instead of turning right on Milton to go home, he turns left to accompany Beatrice home.

"My mom works three to eleven, so you won't meet her, but Jack works eleven to seven and is usually home after school. You'll like Jack. He does special effects makeup on the side," Beatrice explains.

"Jack is your stepfather?"

"Pretty much. They're not married and I don't call him 'Dad,' but he's more important than my father."

Brian lives in a solidly middleclass neighborhood, but Beatrice's neighborhood is less affluent. Instead of ranch houses there are bungalows and duplexes, and none of the huge lawns common in his neighborhood. It seems cozier and more relaxed. Her house is a tidy yellow bungalow with a big porch and a porch swing, and a tiny lawn. Outside, it is most conventional, but the inside shows Beatrice came by her peculiarities and eccentricities naturally. The hardwood floors are covered in bright geometric-patterned rugs, and the dining room is lit by a huge paper globe hanging over the dinner table. A row of hooks above the door hold every imaginable type of hat, including a sombrero, a cowboy hat and a construction helmet. There is a headless mannequin by the stairs gesturing toward some bookcases along one wall. Picasso prints hang on the walls.

Beatrice leaves him in the living room while she excuses herself. He strolls over to the bookcases. There are plenty of books, but there are also more hats, life size masks and a terrarium containing a tarantula. Browsing the titles (visual art, gardening and classic literature mainly) he comes across a tarantula NOT in the terrarium. It is perched in a shadowy nook on top of an old wooden box. He quickly backs away; spiders are not his favorite thing. Beatrice returns, and still backing away, he informs her, "Umm, there is a huge spider sitting there. Like, running around loose."

She laughs. "That's a tarantula skin. They molt. Jack thinks it's funny to scare the guests."

"Hah, very funny, it almost gave me a heart attack. Is there anything else I need to know about?"

"No, Jack generally doesn't scare people except on Halloween. Halloween is a big deal. He usually does me as a zombie, but one year I was a mutant with three arms. He's good at zombies and monsters. Come downstairs, I'll show you his work."

She leads him through the kitchen (which appears quite ordinary) and down the basement stairs into a large work room lit by several banks of fluorescents. On the work table is what looks like a gory clown head, half-painted, several severed arms and one leg. There are boxes, cans of paint, brushes, a paint spattered hairdryer, hooks, rolls of some kind of synthetic material, sheets of plastic, and a general jumble of tools and supplies he does not recognize. Beatrice picks up a gorilla mask and puts it on. It is amazingly life-like, the glass eyes so realistic, he must touch them to be assured they really are glass.

She says something muffled from under the mask and emerges a bit tousled. "He doesn't usually get to keep the masks, they become the property of the film studio, but they didn't use this extra he made, so we have it." She turns the mask so that she may regard its face. "Xavier is a favorite of mine."

"So this is what Jack does? Make movie stuff?"

"On the side. It's sort of a complicated hobby he gets paid for. He drives an ambulance and so does mom. That's why they work weird hours."

"Wow, my dad is an insurance salesman. This is… this is so cool."

After this quick tour, they settle in Beatrice's room to do homework. Initially she puts on Bauhaus, but he finds it too weird, so they change to the classical music station. While they work, he hears some rustling about in the kitchen, then smells coffee. After a while, a tall man wearing sweats comes to Beatrice's door with a coffee mug. He looks pretty ordinary, short brown hair and a beard with streaks of silver.

"Jack, this is Brian, who I told you about."

Brian nervously gets to his feet and shakes hands with Jack, saying, "Nice to meet you, sir."

"Bea showed you Xavier?"

Brian mumbles an affirmative.

"He found the spider pretty quick, Jack."

"Ah, so you're observant. You like classical music?"

"Yes, sir."

"You can call me Jack."

Brian nods, struggling to not respond "Yes, sir," again.

"I definitely prefer classical music over these wailing souls Bea likes so much."

"The wailing souls are okay," Brian says loyally.

Jack finds this amusing. "I'll let you guys get back to work."

Without all the extra work from physics and math, it doesn't take long to complete his homework and he helps Beatrice with her own math homework. All too soon, it is time to go. She walks him out the front door and gives him a soft kiss goodbye. He wishes he could hold her forever.

* * *

><p>Things remain quiet for a few days. Brian gets a little ribbing from Bender when it becomes evident he and Beatrice are dating, but the girls appear quite happy at this development. Rob eventually decides to be happy for Brian rather than give in to envy. Lester and Gil take it philosophically. These things happen.<p>

Monday at lunch, Brian makes his selection of burger with fries and joins the group at the table. He is just digging into a discussion of Roman imperialism with Beatrice when he happens to glance up and looks straight at Stubby Boardman, who is holding a plastic fork like a cocked catapult. As he watches, Stubby lets loose and a gob of something white goes flying. The faces of those opposite him all go blank with shock. He turns to see what has their attention and beholds Vernon, one eyeglass lens spattered with mashed potatoes.

"Goddammit Bender, that's it. You're out of here for good," Vernon yells as he whips off his glasses.

Taking in the situation, Brian jumps up, pointing, but Stubby is gone. "He didn't do it, sir, it was Stubby Boardman."

"Tell that to someone who doesn't know better, Johnson. Get your stuff Bender, this is your last trip to the principal's office."

"Are those mashed potatoes?" Lester asks.

Vernon doesn't dignify this with a response.

"Sir, we don't have any mashed potatoes," Lester persists. Looking down the table, Brian sees he is right. No one chose mashed potatoes; their table is bare of that item.

"Shut up, you," is Vernon's response.

Bender is on his feet, gathering his bag, but looks up when Lester speaks.

"Sir, there is no way I could have done it. I have no mashed potatoes. You can see, no one has mashed potatoes. Look sir, there are none at this table."

Vernon glares down the table but must admit the truth of this statement.

"As much as I applaud the sentiment, sir, it is an impossibility." Bender can't seem to keep his mouth shut.

"Alright, Bender. Come with me, that's a detention for disrespect. I don't know which one of you did this," Vernon pauses to point a finger up and down the table, "but I'll get you. Just you wait."

As he is led off, Bender gives them an unrepentant smile, then blows a kiss to Claire.

"Stubby Boardman did it!" Brian erupts, once Vernon is out of earshot. "I saw him! He did it!"

"I guarantee you, Priscilla put him up to it," Andy says. "Sit down Brian. We need to be cool here. She made her play and it failed. We can't prove it was Stubby, so that's over. What we really need is an ear inside. Claire, have you talked to anyone yet?"

"I managed to talk to Jennifer in the girls' bathroom. She's pretty pissed. Priscilla was her best friend for a couple of months but turned on her. Now Jennifer is the butt of all Priscilla's jokes. She is definitely sympathetic to us. I'm working on it."

"Okay, until then, we just keep on staying clean. It's all we can do. But don't worry, we'll get ours eventually. She's going to screw up, and when she does, we'll be there."

* * *

><p>Life goes on and the next day is Tuesday, Brian and Beatrice's day to visit Brian's house. Beatrice is copying another Cure tape for Allison. The unearthly atmospheric sound of the band is beginning to grow on Brian. The languid drifting of his thoughts melt together with the music and the warmth of Beatrice in his arms. He is lost in the pleasure of holding her body against his. They dive into a kiss. She puts her hand on his and guides it under her shirt. The soft warm skin of her waist feels incredible. As he is sliding his hand around to the small of her back to pull her closer, they hear the car. They both bound off the couch. It's not even four o'clock yet. Beatrice throws her backpack over her shoulder and looks wildly to him for instruction. He hustles her to the back door and is closing it behind her just as the garage door opens.<p>

The Cure tape is still going and he spots a flowery notebook that slipped out of her bag half under the couch. Three long strides bring him to the couch, where he flops, pushing the notebook under the couch. He is kicked back, trying to look relaxed.

"What kind of noise is that?" his mother demands.

"It's The Cure."

"Turn it off. Why aren't you studying? Why are you just lying around listening to this horrible din?"

"Mom, I am a teenager. Teenagers listen to music. I am not a homework factory. I need to do something other than study sometimes."

"Don't you talk back to me. Turn that off and go to your room. Stay there until dinner."

He manages to shuffle Beatrice's notebook in with his own school books as he gathers his things. He goes to his room as instructed but refuses to study. He'll do the bare minimum after dinner, but he'll be damned if he will keep studying on command.

* * *

><p>Beatrice meets Brian before homeroom and finds the whole escapade funny. She describes her perilous crossing of the yard and sneaking out the side gate with humor, but he is still too angry with his mother to properly appreciate her story. He digs around in his bag and brings out her notebook and the two tapes. When he gives them to her, he sees she is hurt.<p>

"I'm sorry, Bea. She just pressures me so hard, sometimes I can't think of anything else."

"Come to my house after school. We won't do homework, just watch TV or something."

"Thanks, Beatrice. I'd go crazy without you."

And he really would. Jack has taken a liking to him and the feeling is mutual. He can just _be_ at her house, no pressure to _do_ anything. He is acceptable as he is. Acceptable, liked, enjoyed. His mother attacks him with such hostility about the most simple of things. Bender said he was every parent's wet dream, but he is never good enough for his mother. Making straight As isn't grounds for praise, it is barely enough to keep her anger at bay.

Oh well, life goes on, and there is always the breakfast club and Beatrice, his two lifelines.


	5. Ch 5: Graffiti

**Chapter Five**

**Graffiti**

Priscilla's next move is obvious to all. When Brian arrives Friday morning, he sees the front sidewalk is spray painted with the words "The Breakfast Club." Andy, looking as pissed as Brian's ever seen him, marches by Brian's locker before homeroom and says, "Courtyard. Now."

When Brian reaches the courtyard, the whole club is assembled, plus Beatrice.

"What do we do?" asks Claire. She mainly seems to be addressing Andy.

"There's not much we can do," Andy says. "We can't all have air tight alibis from the end of school yesterday and the beginning of school today. Any one of us could have snuck out in the middle of the night and done it. We can't defend ourselves. Priscilla really got us."

"What's one detention more or less?" Bender asks with disinterest.

"Andy and I want scholarships. We can't have a bad record," Brian answers immediately.

"You do realize we could all be suspended over this?" Andy wants to know. "I'll be happy if we get off with just a detention."

The bell for homeroom rings and they disperse. Brian is not surprised when his name is called over the loudspeaker to report to the principal's office. He joins the rest of the group in the outer reception area of Principal Gaffney's office. There is a bench for wrong-doers awaiting discipline and they all sit, except Bender, who puts a foot up so he can readjust one of the bandanas around his boot.

Finally Principal Gaffney comes out with Vernon close behind.

"I understand you all belong to a clandestine group named 'The Breakfast Club.' Is this true?" Gaffney looks up and down the line.

"Sir, we don't belong to a group, we just eat lunch together," Brian speaks up after a beat of silence.

"Why is this essay signed 'The Breakfast Club'?" Gaffney is holding up Brian's communal essay.

"That's what all the kids call Saturday detention, sir," Andy says in their defense. And it is true, since their day in detention it has become the common term.

Vernon speaks for the first time. "No one used that term until you did. This group set the trend."

"Sir, I'd like to point out that Beatrice was not there. She was not part of the group that served detention together." Brian fervently hopes this gets Bea off the hook.

"Is this true, Vernon?"

He nods.

"You're excused, Miss Snyder."

Beatrice reluctantly leaves.

"You are the group known as 'The Breakfast Club'. Mr. Vernon has informed me of your various activities. If I had conclusive evidence that linked any of you to this incident, you'd all be expelled. As it is, you will all report for detention on Saturday." Gaffney looks up and down the line. "You are dismissed."

"That was so unfair!" bursts out Brian.

"Shut it, Brian," Andy mutters. "We can talk at lunch. Let's meet in the courtyard instead of the cafeteria."

They go to their separate classes.

Brian is not looking forward to telling his mother he has yet another detention. The day drags and lunch brings no relief.

"We can sit here feeling sorry for ourselves and complaining, or we can figure out how to put a stop to Priscilla," Andy says.

But no one has any ideas.

"Claire? Any news about Jennifer?"

"No. I'll try to catch her during P.E."

* * *

><p>There's nothing for it but to get it over with. Brian decides dinner is as good a time as any. His father will at least be there too.<p>

"I have to serve detention this Saturday." He's focusing on his green beans, lining them up so they all face in one direction.

"What's wrong with you?" his mother asks. "Listening to that music, back-talking, an F in shop, and now another detention.?" The venom in her voice carves into him.

"Son, what did you do this time?" his father asks. He sounds more tired than anything.

"I didn't do anything. I was falsely accused of doing graffiti I had nothing to do with."

"It's better to tell the truth, Brian," his father says.

Stabbing the green beans, he says, "Oh great, my own father doesn't believe me. I didn't do it."

"Don't talk to your father like that," his mother snaps.

Brian glares at his mother.

"There's no way you'll get a scholarship to a good school if you keep getting detentions. Don't you want to go to a good university?" his mother asks.

Her question is rhetorical, but he answers, "No. No, I don't want to go to a good university. I don't care, mom. You care. These are all your plans, not mine."

"Do you want to be stuck in a dead-end job like your father?"

Suddenly all his father's normal apathy is gone. "I give you a good life, Helen, and you think my job is a dead-end? I work hard so you can stay home with the kids and have a good home in a good neighborhood." His father raises his voice. "This dead-end job supports you."

"I want Brian to have a better life."

"Mom, you don't care. If you wanted me to have a good life, you would have asked me what I wanted. You never consulted me. Do you know why I had that flare gun in my locker? I was going to off myself for making an F in shop. But you know what? I don't care about shop or good universities or your expectations anymore."

Quietly, his father says, "Brian, Sam, go to your rooms while your mother and I talk." He has his voice under scary control now, as if holding back something huge.

His parents never fight. He never defies his mother. He never tells the truth about the pressure.

Flopping on his bed, he tries to block out the raised voices, but he can't help hearing snatches.

"… putting pressure…"

"… not good enough …."

"... achieve…"

"… suicide…"

Suicide. Why did he mention that? Now they'll think he's crazy. But part of him is just fine with that, if it means a reduction in his mother's hostility and pressure. It's weird to look at something from two different ways at once, like one of those paintings of stairs that go up and down at the same time. One way, he's seeing how seriously wigged out he was in acquiring the flare gun and how close he came to using it. The other way, he's seeing how quickly the desperation receded. Serious as hell but also insignificant. That seems like so long ago too, another lifetime. The lifetime before the breakfast club. Having friends, a girlfriend, fun, freedom feels normal now.

They have quieted down now. Someone taps on his door. He sits up in bed and says, "Come in."

It's his father. He doesn't think his father has been in his room in years, since Brian was young enough to want bedtime stories. That was nice, now that he thinks about it. He always felt good when his father would read to him. Jesus, why is he thinking about being a little kid?

His father sits on the chair by his desk, looking very serious.

"Brian, I want you to know I care about you."

Wow, that's a weird start; no one expresses affection in this house. He seems to mean it though.

"Your happiness is important to me. Tell me, son, what's wrong?"

"I'm okay now," he rushes to say. "I just felt like that for a little bit. I'm fine."

His father looks so sad and concerned. All these feelings, it's too weird. His family doesn't do feelings.

"No, really, I'm better."

"I didn't realize how serious the pressure had gotten. Failing a class is okay, it's not the end of the world. I still love you."

He can't believe what he's hearing. He can't remember hearing his father say he loves him since… since he used to read books to him.

"It's okay dad, I stopped caring about it after detention. Things are fine now."

"I'll take your word for that. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

This is getting surreal.

Since things are so strange, he finds himself volunteering, "I quit physics club and math club. I quit them a few weeks ago. I've been going over to my girlfriend's house instead."

"That's fine with me son. Clubs are for fun. If they're not fun, don't go."

"I really like my Latin club."

"That's good. And you have a girlfriend now? I thought there must be a girl behind your new clothes."

"Yeah. My friend Claire helped me go shopping."

"That's your girlfriend's name, Claire?"

"No, her name is Beatrice. I met Claire in detention." He nervously talks on. "That's why she was in detention, shopping. She cut class to go to the mall."

"There are more heinous crimes. What's happening with this new detention?"

"Priscilla Rogers is out to get us, Dad. She made it look like we painted some graffiti, but I swear to you, we didn't. And Principal Gaffney, he has no proof, he's just giving us detention because Vernon hates Bender."

"Whoa, who are Priscilla and Bender and Vernon?"

Brian describes all the events leading up to the new detention. He skips over exactly how Bender pissed off Priscilla, but otherwise tells the story straight up.

"You must serve your detention tomorrow; there's nothing I can do before then. But I'll speak to Gaffney on Monday."

In a completely different tone, his father goes on, "Your mother really does care and wants what's best for you. We both do. Less pressure from now on, I promise. Good night."

And that is the end of the strange, unexpected conversation.

* * *

><p>"Beatrice, what are you doing here?" Brian asks when the breakfast club is assembled in the library for detention.<p>

"I'm pulling an Allison. What's Vernon going to do? Give me detention?"

"She's an honorary member," says Allison.

Both girls are sitting at the back table Allison occupied last time. He resolves himself to the idea that Allison and Beatrice cannot be stopped when they join forces. He takes a seat between them. Bender and Andy seem to be waiting for Claire. She finally comes rushing in, late, and before Andy or Bender can say anything, Vernon enters.

"Well, well, look what we have here. The breakfast club is back." Vernon rocks back on his heels and looks smugly at them. "It is now seven oh four. You have eight hours and fifty six minutes to think about what you've done. There will be no talking, no moving, and no missing screws. Bender, that means you." He glares at Bender, who belches unconcernedly.

"I hear a peep out of any of you, that's instant suspension. You are all," he looks around, "in a world of trouble already. It would give me pleasure to suspend any one of you. Don't mess with the bull, you'll get the horns." He makes his stupid hand gesture and strides out.

Claire is sitting between Andy and Bender and they are whispering, evidently getting a report from Claire.

Allison is already drawing, but Brian can't make out what it is. Something angular.

"What happened with your parents?" Beatrice asks, whispering also.

Brian, not up to whispering the entire story, gets out his notebook and writes

_Parents had a fight._

_They know I quit physics and math club._

_They know about you and the other guys._

_My dad believes me not doing graffiti._

_He's going to talk to Gaffney on Mon._

She reads this and writes back

_Big fight?_

_Are you okay?_

Brian responds

_Huge fight, she called my dad's job a dead end_

_He got pissed, then I said why I had the flare gun_

_I'm okay, they're going to get off my case so much_

He pauses, then continues

_No physics and math clubs anymore,_

_No big deal about detention_

_Dad doesn't care about F in shop class_

_It's better now_

_Dad's cool_

Beatrice makes a smiley face.

Brian smiles at her, feeling the huge relief all over again of knowing his mother is off his case. She scoots her chair right next to his and leans her head on his shoulder. He puts his arm round her and feels an incredible lightness. He doesn't have to hide her anymore; he doesn't have to lie about going to her house anymore. There's a lot he doesn't have to do anymore.

With Beatrice warm against his side, he finds himself getting sleepy.

* * *

><p>"Wake up!"<p>

Brian is startled out of sleep. He gets his bearings then surreptitiously wipes away a bit of spittle.

"Johnson, get your hands off her."

He whips his arm from around Beatrice. She murmurs a complaint. He nudges her with his knee and she wakes. Everyone else seems to be waking too.

After their group visits to the bathroom, the six of them gather around one table for lunch.

"Brian's dad is going to talk to Gaffney on Monday," Beatrice announces. "Claire and Andy, your fathers should too. He punished you guys with no evidence at all." They all know it's pointless to try to interest Allison's parents, and positively dangerous to attract the attention of Mr. Bender.

"Claire was telling us about Jennifer," Andy says. "Claire, explain to them what she said."

Claire lays down the knife with which she was serving pâté. "She said she would keep her ears open for us. She heard Stubby and Priscilla laughing about the graffiti in the morning, but there was nothing she could do after the fact."

"Do you think she would tell Gaffney what she overheard them saying?" Brian asks.

"If she could do it secretly, without any students knowing, she said yes she would."

"We need to make that happen. Claire, could your father ask Gaffney to call her to the principal's office?" Andy asks.

"I think so."

Brian is relieved. Hearing that Mr. Standish and Mr. Clark will be joining forces with his father on Monday cheers him up. Mr. Standish is an important lawyer and Andy is a star athlete, so they will pull more weight than his own father, and with the three combined, it would be strange if they didn't get all mention of this detention erased from their records.

After lunch, Andy joins Brian, Allison and Beatrice at their table. Beatrice introduces a game called Exquisite Corpse, wherein a piece of paper is passed around, each person inventing a line of poetry and then folding it so the next person cannot see what was written before. They come up with some pretty silly combinations. This is followed by hangman, and then Pictionary. Another nap and detention is over.

* * *

><p>On Sunday, to test the new conditions prevailing in the Johnson household, Brian asks over breakfast if he may visit Beatrice that afternoon.<p>

His father asks, "Have you finished your homework?"

"I just need to complete my essay on electricity. It's almost done."

"Finish that up and you may go."

Brian involuntarily looks in his mother's direction. She looks like she's swallowing something very large and dry, but nods.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad."

When he arrives, Beatrice is still laboring on her own science essay about animal testing (she's passionately against it), so Brian leans against her legs and teases her cat with a bit of string while she works. Without the weight of constant study and arid social isolation, Brian finds the lightness that started yesterday is continuing. Maybe feeling light is normal? Whatever it is, it's a relief.

* * *

><p>Mr. Standish called Brian's father Sunday night and they made an appointment to see Gaffney on Monday morning, along with Mr. Clark.<p>

On his way to homeroom he witnesses Priscilla's jeering greeting to Claire.

"How was detention, Standish? Your boyfriend expelled yet?"

Claire ignores her, a bored look on her face. Priscilla's friends all laugh, but Priscilla looks angry at getting no reaction from Claire. Brian fights the urge to say something. Silence and boredom hurt Priscilla far more than any response he might make.

Claire is late to lunch because she stopped to call her father, but brings the good news that the detention has been eradicated from their records. Even if Claire hadn't brought the news, they would have known because Vernon makes a special visit to their lunch table.

"You got off this time, but next time I'm going to nail you all. One toe out of line and I'll be there."


	6. Ch 6: Finally, Finals

**Chapter Six**

**Finally, Finals**

Finals approach. In the past, this would have sparked marathon sessions of feverish study in Brian, but this year he isn't driven to such excesses. He studies, of course, but not frantically. He manages to swallow his pride and ask Bender for help with his final shop project,: a birdhouse. He's seen the birdhouses his classmates have made and some are veritable palaces, but his own modest model is straight and fastened together properly. He'll get at least a C.

Latin he's going to ace, of course. His other subjects are shaping up well. His physics paper is almost done and the rest of his classes simply involve review. He and Beatrice spend a good deal of time at the public library on Milton.

When finals week begins, Brian does well in English and American history. Tuesday is Latin. Third period, he leans his backpack against the side of his desk, gets out a pencil and waits to be handed a blue book to write his test answers in. The test and answer books are passed out and he begins. He is hard at work when he hears what sounds like a piece of tightly folded paper drop. He doesn't think about it but continues recording his answers. Mr. Tillson prowls the aisles on the look-out for problems or wrong-doing. Stopping by Brian's desk, he bends to pick up something. It is the folded paper he heard. Mr. Tillson unfolds it and reads it as he walks up the aisle.

Brian is surprised when Mr. Tillson calls him into the hallway.

"Johnson, can you explain this being under your desk?" He holds up the paper.

"No, sir. I don't know what that is."

"It's a cheat sheet with the three hardest irregular verbs on it. You don't know anything about this?"

"No."

"I'll let you look at it, see if it refreshes your memory."

Brian sees that yes, it has the three hardest irregular verbs on it, in unfamiliar handwriting. He looks at Mr. Tillson, completely baffled. Then the hard look on the teacher's face makes his brain jump.

"I don't need this, sir, I know these verbs. It's not mine."

Mr. Tillson takes back the sheet and asks, "Please recite these verbs."

Brian does so, flawlessly.

"And you didn't prepare this for another student?"

"It's not my handwriting. I swear I have nothing to do with it." Brian remembers Priscilla. Shit. "There may be an explanation, sir."

He tries to explain Priscilla's grudge.

"This is too much to go into here. You need to go to the principal's office. I'll give you a note to take to Principal Gaffney."

Brian must look horror struck because Mr. Tillson goes on, "I know you Brian. If you say it has nothing to do with you, I believe you. But we need to get to the bottom of this. Someone was cheating."

As he makes his way to the principal's office, his heart, temporarily lifted by Mr. Tillson's confidence, plummets with the idea of confronting Gaffney. He'll never believe any story about Priscilla.

His heart sinks deeper when he sees Andy already sitting on Gaffney's bench.

"Cheat sheet?" Brian asks.

Andy nods. Brian sits heavily. He is sure it is only time until the others show up with the same accusation, and he is right. Claire shows up not ten minutes later, accompanied by another girl, someone Brian doesn't remember having met.

"This is Jennifer." Claire speaks quickly and quietly. "She heard Priscilla making plans and saw Stubby throw a cheat sheet under my desk. You guys had cheat sheets under your desks too?"

They confirm her supposition.

"Listen, Priscilla probably has more cheat sheets and more accomplices. I think we can bust her!" She is wringing her hands.

"Mr. Tillson is behind me," Brian starts, but Gaffney comes out of his office and approaches them. He is holding Mr. Tillson's note.

"Johnson, how did that cheat sheet get under your desk?"

"I don't know, sir. It's not mine." With a bit of wounded pride he says, "Sir, I don't need to cheat. I am the best Latin student you have, aside from Beatrice Snyder."

"And what do you say, Clark? You're not our best history student. How did you end up with a cheat sheet under your chair?"

"I expect someone threw it there for Priscilla Rogers, sir. It's not mine."

"Sir," Claire raises her hand as if she is in class., "Jennifer knows something about this. She saw-"

Bender bursts through the doorway, propelled by Vernon.

"We caught another. This whole group has been cheating wholesale." Vernon looks delighted.

"I told you, I don't care enough to cheat. Take a look at my grades, I don't look like a student who cares, do I?" Bender speaks with a definite lack of interest.

"Sir," Claire tries again., "Jennifer can give you information that will explain everything."

Gaffney is absorbed in Vernon's gloating hatred and does not hear Claire.

"SIR," Andy insists. When he has Gaffney's attention, he continues, "Sir, Claire and Jennifer have information."

Claire, looking nervous, says, "Mr. Gaffney, Jennifer overheard Priscilla Rogers planning to throw cheat sheets under our chairs. Priscilla wants to frame us all, and she has accomplices, including Stubby Boardman. Jennifer saw Stubby throw that cheat sheet under my chair."

"Is this true, Jennifer?" Gaffney looms over Jennifer.

Jennifer seems nervous but resolute.

"Yessir, I saw them do it. And I recognize Priscilla's handwriting. She wrote all those papers," she states "She doesn't like them, the breakfast club. She got Stubby to do the mashed potatoes and the graffiti, to get them in trouble."

"Search Priscilla. She'll have Allison and Beatrice's cheat sheets. They don't have their exams until after lunch." Andy is firm and assertive.

"We can't search a student based on hearsay," Vernon says with contempt.

"You searched all of our lockers just on Priscilla's word," Andy counters.

"Vernon, we need to discuss this. In private." Principal Gaffney opens his inner office door and waits for Vernon to precede him.

Bender, having no compunctions, puts his ear against the door.

"You can't do that, young man," says the secretary. Bender just shushes her.

The group watches Bender's face for a clue. A slow smile starts on his face.

"I love hearing someone else getting reamed," he whispers. "Gaffney's tearing into Vernon."

The doorknob rattles and Bender darts back to his seat with an exaggerated look of innocence, hands folded demurely on his knees.

Vernon bangs out of the principal's inner office and strides out into the hallway. Principal Gaffney emerges more sedately. He takes a long look at the row of students.

"Johnson, you belong to the Latin club?" Brian nods.

"Clark, you won our last match, didn't you?" Andy nods as well.

"Miss Standish, you were on the student council last year?" Claire adds her nod.

He looks at Bender but says nothing. He seems to be thinking.

"Vernon is a good man, but sometimes he blinded by his own peculiarities. You are all good students." His back is to Bender. "We'll get to the bottom of this."

Priscilla angrily sweeps in, followed by Vernon. Her voice is raised. "You can't believe her over me! Look at her boyfriend!" Her beautiful face is contorted into an ugly shape of fury and malice.

"Miss Rogers, empty your bag," Gaffney tells her.

"You can't do this!" she shrieks.

Gaffney calmly says, "I can and I will. Miss Rogers, do as you are told."

Two tightly folded papers emerge from her bag. Gaffney opens each paper, compares them to the other cheat sheets he collected.

He says to Vernon, "Miss Rogers may enter my office."

"No! It's her, she did it! It's her fault! I didn't…" Priscilla's voice is dampened by the door to Gaffney's office shutting.

When Gaffney looks back to the row of students, Jennifer nervously starts, "Mr. Gaffney, Priscilla did it all. The mashed potatoes, the graffiti, the cheat sheets."

"Jennifer Starnes, is that right?" Gaffney inquires. She nods.

"Miss Starnes, why did you not reveal this to the proper authorities at the time?"

"Sir, I was scared. I was scared that no one would believe me and I was scared of what Priscilla would do. But I came today because cheating is so serious. I couldn't let Claire be expelled because Priscilla hates her."

Gaffney looks at each in turn. "We'll discover what really happened here. You are dismissed. Return to your classes."

* * *

><p>It's Bender who brings the news.<p>

"I was sneaking a smoke in the parking lot and saw Priscilla," Bender tells them. "Her parents were dragging her to their car and she was screaming. She's been kicked out, and boy is she in deep shit with her parents. Priscilla can yell, but she can't top her mother; I could hear her all the way across the parking lot."

"They came and got Stubby in civics class. He's in trouble too," Andy adds.

The whole group is gathered in the courtyard after school. Beatrice is holding Brian's hand tightly and smiling. Leaning against Andy, Allison looks as happy.

Bender slings his arm around Claire and announces, "This calls for a celebration. Who's getting high?"

"None of us are, John. You aren't either. But we can get some ice cream at Brewer's," is Claire's proposition.

"Hey!" says Andy. "There's Jennifer! She needs to come with us, to help celebrate."

Claire waves her over.

"Come with us to Brewer's, Jennifer. It's thanks to you we got out of that mess," Claire says.

"I'll treat you to the biggest sundae they make," Andy pledges.

Jennifer seems intimidated by the large group of students, but Claire pulls her sleeve and gives her one of those clear, pure Claire smiles. Brian sees that smile and finds it no longer tugs at his heart, although it does make him feel affection, just another kind. Jennifer must be affected by the smile too because she returns it and joins them with more confidence.

Brian and Beatrice fall in with the rest of the group and they walk out together, laughing and talking.

If Brian had felt light after his release from his mother's tyranny, he is now positively floating. He has good friends, he has the incredible Beatrice as his girlfriend and he is free at last. Now, when he looks at himself, he likes what he sees.


End file.
